


One Little Lie

by uncreativename



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, minor hollstein
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 16:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4529124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uncreativename/pseuds/uncreativename
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She <i>hates</i> her. She is <i>awful</i>. She is <i>the worst</i>. </p><p>She can't stop thinking about her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Little Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from newmanos on Tumblr: "Top two students in high school, competing for the best grades?"  
> A short one-shot to quell my Permonde feels.
> 
> Title from _1234_ by Feist, specifically: _Those teenage hopes who have tears in their eyes, too scared to own up to one little lie._

Perry scanned the lists in the main foyer of the school, to find her grade point average. This was _her_ year. She was going to be valedictorian, and no one was going to stop her. 

First step? Be active in every possible club. Which she was. She was on the speech and debate team, in German club, student council (vice-president, thank you very much), Model UN, yearbook club, book club, the GSA, Jewish Student Union, knitting club, choir, _and_ was floor don at Lehane Hall. She was busy. It kept her out of trouble. It made her a good role model for her peers (especially her best friend Lafontaine and her sophomore friend, Laura, both of whom got into their fair share of trouble). 

Second step? Get top marks. Which, looking at the list, was very easily accomplished. She found her ID number, traced her finger across the line to the _GPA_ column. “ _4.0.”_

She grinned to herself. Yes, her final year at boarding school was certainly setting her up for success. She felt her chest puff out, like a proud lioness, ready to take on the kingdom. She was _definitely_ shoe-in for validic-

“I’m _definitely_ shoe-in for valedictorian!” An obnoxious voice interrupted Perry’s thoughts. 

Ugh. _Her_.

There she was, Matska Belmonde, surrounded by her sheep, her minions, all sounding their affirmations for the girl. 

Her _nemesis_. 

She was student council president and co-captain of the debate team. And while she didn’t participate in any of Perry’s other clubs, she was always lead actor in the drama club’s plays, in opera club, and star athlete in track and field, tennis, and equestrian. She did _all that_ and still somehow managed to look as though she’d stepped out of the pages of a magazine. She was _perfect_.

No, not perfect. She was her nemesis! She was _awful_. If there was anyone who could steal Perry’s _rightful_ spot as valedictorian, it was _her_. 

Ugh. _Her_.

Perry, in a flourish of angry red curls, stormed away from the list, and out the doors. She made her way back to the Lehane Hall, to her (thankfully private) room and slammed the door.

(She guessed one disadvantage of not having a roommate was that no one saw her perfectly executed storm-off and entry into her room.)

Perry paced the (short) length of her room, fuming. Mattie was all bells and whistles, all presentation, all flash, no substance. She was insufferable, a know-it-all, and, _really_ , compared to Perry? She was _not_ that smart.

She hated her.

And she couldn’t stop thinking about her. 

It was all _ridiculous_ and really, this _pacing_ thing happened too frequently. Every other day, Mattie would do _something_ , and it’d reduce Perry to this flustered, annoyed, “shrieky” as LaFontaine put it, person. 

(LaFontaine always had a raised eyebrow, their smile  _too_  coy, whenever Perry would go through her usual anti-Mattie rant, which Perry would try to ignore, with a blush and further shrieking.) 

Really, it only spoke to how much Lola Perry _hated_ Matska Belmonde. 

To _understand_ Mattie would be to at Mattie’s level, and Perry was not in the business of understanding the her probably evil inner workings. She was someone who likely got all her charm and ‘intelligence’ by some nefarious deed.

Laura’s theory was that she helped her mother, the Dean of Silas Academy, sacrifice other students to feed anglerfish god demons. Lola was 95 percent certain it wasn’t the case. Laura did have a wild imagination. Students weren’t going missing or anything. Nor was there any evidence of any anglerfish god demon on the school grounds. 

_And_ Laura had other reasons for disliking Mattie - she was dating Mattie’s little sister, another sophomore named Carmilla, and the two just didn’t get along as a result.

But Perry? Perry had legitimate reasons for being suspicious of and disliking her. They shared every class - they took AP together. Perry had seen the effort Mattie put into her work - it seemed when she wasn’t in class or in any clubs, she was in the library almost as much as Perry was (which _yes,_ was a lot). But still not as much as Perry.

So she couldn’t for the life of her understand why Matska Belmonde had nearly identical grades to her. (In _every class_ but Biology - thank goodness for Lafontaine, who she could accept was a better at Bio than her, but less focused. They were an excellent tutor, but not the most disciplined student.)

Mattie was awful; like an unsolvable puzzle. No logic. It was like she completely ignored the laws of teenagedom to be who she was. Laura was probably right on some level - she had to have been some un-human, supernatural, demon. Perry had already made a mental list.

1\. She was “smart” - in that she managed to swindle the professors into giving her better grades, there was no other feasible scenario.

2\. She was “talented”. _Yes_ , her performance in the Fall production of _Antigone: Zombies Rising_ was _electric_. But everyone fell to her feet as if she was Meryl Streep! She was good, yes. Exceptional, yes. _Radiant,_ well, yes. But it’s not like she deserved a Tony. _Please_.

3\. She was “athletic”.  She definitely had Perry on that. Perry had been to every single one of Mattie’s show jumping events, she’d seen her in action (Perry liked horses, it wasn’t to watch Mattie, _okay?)_. But what Perry lacked in athletics she made up for in other avenues - she’d won first prize at the Styria County’s Cake Bake-Off the last four years in a row! Mattie couldn’t claim _that_!

4\. She was _beautiful_. Ugh, Perry hated to concede to this fact, but yes, Matska Belmonde’s biological parents were probably Greek gods and goddesses, because it was impossible for someone to be _that striking_ and claim to be _her age_. 

She had an incredible smile. Her arms were chiseled, as one could ascertain from the aforementioned #3. And her sense of style? It’s like  _Vogue_ looked to _her_ to determine what the next big thing in fashion would be.

...Not that Perry really gave Mattie’s aesthetic’s any thought ever.

Perry threw her face onto her pillow, letting it muffle her groan.

Ugh. _Matska Belmonde._

Well, if Perry was going to be valedictorian, she was going to have to just...beat Mattie. Maybe she’d join the drama club too! LaFontaine did say she had a flare for the dramatics (although Perry was pretty sure that wasn’t a compliment...). Maybe she’d join the Summer Society; she always thought she’d make a good Merida-type (but she never really liked being outdoors - it just didn’t seem particularly sanitary...).

... _or_ she could just continue to quietly (but actively) hate the girl with every fiber of her being.

Which was more than likely to happen.

_Ugh_.

 

\--

 

Two days later, Perry sat in the Dean’s office, her jaw on the floor. This year, due to both of their exemplary behavior at Silas Academy, the Faculty and Board of Directors saw no other option.

_Two_ valedictorians.

“You two are going to be spending a lot of time together,” the Dean said, giving both of them a proud smile. Perry felt her stomach churn.

Mattie held her hand out, for Perry to shake. _Oh god_ , her hand was _so_ soft.

“Congratulations, Perry. I’m honoured to share this title with you,” she said, through gritted teeth. Yeah, Mattie was not happy either. And Perry felt like she was probably going to be sick.

_Ugh_.

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me here.](http://kaitlynsgonnakait.tumblr.com)


End file.
